Mary DeLave has had the opportunity to live a creative life starting with a childhood with a great deal of freedom to explore her own interests at a young age. She was also able to go to an alternative high school which continued to allow that freedom to explore.The overall focus of Mary's paintings are about creative interactions of people and critters showing how the psychology of relationships is multifaceted and richly layered. Another theme she uses is music, where she depicts images about the collaboration of composers, musicians, instruments, instrument makers and the audience. She superimposes these to show magical moments of shared creative inspiration. Animals are used in some paintings to represent our connection with nature and to celebrate the interconnected nature of life. Mary works with compositions that invite the viewer to look from different perspectives to see beyond the ordinary into a wondrous world, to inspire and remind us of the mysterious fun and beauty of life.​​